The Fed’s paper plane won’t fly: why the US economy is in need of more than a Twist September 22, 2011 THE markets were hoping for a helicopter drop from the US Federal Reserve this week, a reference to Ben Bernanke’s infamous 2002 speech on how to prevent deflation. What they got was more a paper plane, where the Fed will fly Treasury bonds from the short to the long end of the interest rate curve. [...]
Global markets hammered by US and China gloom September 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 plunged on opening today as a bleak view of the US economy from the Fed and fears over a slowdown in China – a key engine room in the global economy – took their toll. London tracked hefty falls on Wall Street and in Asia with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong [...]
FED ADDS AN EXTRA TWIST TO STIMULUS September 21, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve under Ben Bernanke (pictured)announced two new “twists” to its efforts to stimulate the ailing US economy last night, yet stopped short of declaring another phase of quantitative easing. “There are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets,” the Fed said in a bid to justify its latest intervention. [...]
MPC moves closer to new round of QE September 21, 2011 MORE QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) is likely to be implemented “at some point” because of falling economic growth expectations, minutes of last week’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, out yesterday, show. However, the US policy of selling short-maturity assets and replacing them with longer ones, cutting long-term interest rates, was ruled out. Only one of the nine [...]
FTSE commodities drop on fear over Fed announcement September 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares dropped back yesterday, led by weakness in commodity issues as investors nervously awaited the outcome of a US Federal Reserve meeting with expectations for further economic stimulus seen as already discounted. The FTSE 100 closed down 75.30 points, or 1.4 per cent at 5,288.41, retreating after a two per cent bounce on [...]
US grim forecast spooks investors September 21, 2011 THE Federal Reserve’s warning that the US faces a grim economic outlook jolted investors yesterday, driving down US stocks more than two per cent, while benchmark Treasury yields hit a more than 60-year low on the Fed’s announcement of a $400bn bond-buying programme. The dollar rallied against the euro and the yen, buoyed by the [...]
Wall St awaits Fed decision as Greece stalls September 20, 2011 US stocks ended little changed yesterday as investors waited to see if the US Federal Reserve would offer more economic stimulus and if Greece made progress in talks to avoid a default. In the lowest volume session since late August, the market gave up earlier gains of about one per cent as investors were wary [...]
MARKET TOO COMPLACENT ON THE EURO September 20, 2011 YESTERDAY, while London was sleeping and Tokyo traders were just starting their day, Standard and Poor’s downgraded Italy, sending euro-dollar into free fall, as the unit plunged more than 100 points in a matter of minutes. Yet when London traders arrived at their desks, the pair proceeded to stage a comeback recovering all of its [...]
THE TIPSTER September 20, 2011 THE dollar’s strength in recent weeks has seen it really surge against its neighbour the Mexican peso, having appreciated some 14 per cent since mid-July. A break above the peso13.000 level is quite significant for the dollar bulls, meaning a test of peso14.000 cannot be ruled out. Capital Spreads quotes peso13.1270-peso13.1470 for dollar-Mexican peso. We [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS September 20, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short Aussie-Kiwi, short Aussie-yen, short loonie-yen Expertise: Fundamental analysis with risk management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week There is a lot of interest this week in the Fed rate decision and constant turmoil surrounding Greece’s slow motion implosion, so I’ll avoid this risk. Instead, [...]